Lorenzo Martin’s 2018 GMC L5P Duramax
Lorenzo Martin could feel a big difference after having the Banks Ram-Air Intake, Derringer, iDash DataMonster, Monster Exhaust, Ram-Air Differential Cover and the new PedalMonster installed all at the same time at the Banks facility in Azusa, California. “I feel like that the truck runs a lot smoother,” said Lorenzo. Even his wife commented on how the truck now felt. “At level two or three on the Derringer, the truck just runs better. I think the tuning and the intake just did wonders for the truck. As it was I really think that the stock intake was choking the life out of the truck, but with the Banks intake the darn engine can finally breathe!”
It didn’t stop there with his observations of the changes that happened to his truck. The addition of the PedalMonster was immediately noticed. “The truck would actually layover a little bit before,” Lorenzo explains. “Sometimes I’d be at a stoplight and press on the pedal and the truck would take a second to go. I went from having a Toyota Tundra that was re-geared, had long-tube headers, and every bolt-on known to man. That had an immediate response but had no torque at all. I went from something with no torque and a lot of response to something with gobs of torque and absolutely no response. We put the PedalMonster on and it took all of that laggy response away. And the pedal feel… when I dialed that thing to track mode, that truck will throw you to the back of your seat. I usually leave it in ‘CITY’ with the Derringer at level 3, and I love watching things on the iDash gauges. It’s all tunable on the fly. I tow a big boat or my trailer and I can have it be one power level to get me merged on the freeway, then I can switch it to another while cruising. It just works so well!”
When asked to describe the performance of his truck now vs before, Lorenzo couldn’t get the smile off of his face. “I usually just keep it (the Derringer) on level 3… unless a tuner car of something revs up next to me. The other day a tricked out Benz came up beside me, and he tried showing off. Man, my truck is a heavy diesel running on 24” rims (14” wide) with a 10 inch lift… and he couldn’t keep up with me. I could tow ten of those cars, and I’m just as fast with the hitch off.”
Lorenzo had actually looked into emissions deletes before making his decision to go to Banks for emissions-friendly upgrades, and through his research, he knows that he made the right decision. “I enjoy the power, and I drive this truck every day… and it’s legal! When you look at how much it really costs to make your truck non-emissions compliant it’s absolutely mind-blowing that this can get almost the same results AND is a fraction of the cost. Aside from the high cost of out of pocket money spent to get your truck “deleted” there’s still the reliability issue. I shopped around and when I added everything together it was around $8,000 for everything including custom tuning! That just doesn’t make sense. There are no safety features on doing something like that VS the Derringer. I spent $75K on my truck… why would I want to push it to the maximum in pursuit of a few extra ponies instead of getting something that works, has usable power, and doesn’t kill my truck? It makes no sense!”
Mr. Martin had some final thoughts on his decision to go all-in with Banks: “Everything that was done has made a difference, and I feel that this is the most that I could do legally. Even though I’m getting all of this performance I’m not damaging the transmission. I can actually feel the trans shift firmly, but not slam through the gears with all that extra power because the Derringer is doing its job and protecting my investment. And that’s just it… this truck IS my investment. It’s daily driven, and I use it for work and for play. I know with Banks everything works together, everything has been tested WAY more than anything else out there, and that I’ll be enjoying all the benefits (and my truck) for years to come.”